Maserati GranCabrio to make appearance in KLIMS ’10

The Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show 2010 (KLIMS ’10) is less than a week away, and one exhibit for visitors to look forward to would be the Maserati GranCabrio four-seater convertible. Unveiled last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2009, the Maserati GranCabrio carries on a line of Maserati convertibles which include the 1950 A6G Frua Spyder, the 3500GT Vignale Spyder (1960), the Mistral Spyder (1964), the Ghibli Spyder (1968) and the 2001 Spyder.

Maserati GranCabrio

Based on its coupe brother, the Maserati GranTurismo, the GranCabrio derives propulsion from a 4.7-litre V8 plucked from the GranTurismo S. Mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission co-developed with ZF, the GranCabrio’s motor gives you access to a useful 440hp at a stratospheric 7,000rpm. Pulling you to that mark is some 490Nm of torque, fully twisted out at 4,250rpm.

Canvas soft top.

While the idea of the GranCabrio is to allow a full passenger load of four people to bathe in glorious sunshine without the need to perform yoga-like contortions, the need for shade in the face of bad weather is also taken care of with a folding canvas soft top that can be deployed in a usefully quick 28 seconds. The setup weighs in at 65kg to keep overall weight penalties low.

Developed from the GranTurismo S

In fact, the GranCabrio tips the scales at just 100kg more than the identically-powered GranTurismo S at 1,980kg. Appropriate structural reinforcements were put in place to ensure that the body retains a sufficiently high level of rigidity without gaining too much additional mass. Weight distribution is kept close to the 50:50 mark, with a 51% rear bias with the roof up and 52% with the roof down.

Comfortable seating for four.

KON

Pictures: Official Maserati release

See also:Maserati Grancabrio Debuts in Frankfurt – by YS Khong (23/9/2009)

Talk about it: KL International Motorshow 2010